Talk » ings Fanie tried a short ball. It didnt get up

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- When Larry Fitzgerald finally decides to hang up the cleats for good, one thing he will not miss is training camp.Training camp stinks when youre bad, training camp stinks when youre good, he said before the Cardinals went through their first practice in full pads on Sunday. Its training camp, man.This is the 13th camp for the wide receiver with career statistics that rank among the best who have played the game. Its a necessary exercise in monotony, he said.Will it be his last?I have no idea, he said. I dont even know what Im having for dinner tonight.Fitzgerald, who turns 33 on Aug. 31, is in the final season of a two-year, $22 million deal. The Cardinals are the only team he has known since they drafted him No. 3 overall in 2004.And he returns to a team loaded with talent. Every player who gained a yard or scored a point for one of the most potent offenses in the NFL last season is back.To be able to bring back that kind of power to a team thats already really good, it really is unheard of, Fitzgerald said. But were back to the basics now. We have to learn how to make sure we dont make the same mistakes we made last year, get off to a fast start. Thats the most important thing for us right now on the third day of training camp.Fitzgerald had one of his best seasons in 2015, catching 109 passes to break the franchise record he set a decade earlier. His 1,215 yards receiving marked the seventh time he passed 1,000 yards in a season.Now his career goals have dwindled to one.I just want to win a championship, he said. Thats it.The Cardinals are a lot better known to football fans after the acclaimed All or Nothing video series on Amazon.com chronicled the teams march to a 13-3 season, dramatic playoff victory over Green Bay and crushing loss at Carolina in the NFC championship game.Fitzgerald said the series, produced by NFL Films, gave everybody the view that we always see.Weve got a great group in this locker room, he said. Everybodys really approachable and close. Theres no egos in here. We all want to work. Its not above anybody to do whatever is asked of us.Thats hard to put together a team like that thats committed to that mentality for a whole season. Its a privilege to be on this squad and I think everybody who watched it got the same sense.Now the Cardinals have to start from scratch again.Theres a lot of optimism, Fitzgerald said. You look at the team and what weve been able to put together this offseason and what we have returning from last years team, its a lot of excitement. I think we all understand that we have the ability to be a force to be reckoned with throughout the course of the year.Obviously the health of our team has a big part to do with that, but what we have and the pieces we have are pretty special.Fitzgerald had his usual world travels this offseason, to France, England and Africa this time.He also lost two of the most important men in his life.His friend and former coach Dennis Green died of a heart attack. His agent Eugene Parker succumbed to kidney cancer.Fitzgerald was a ball boy for the Green-coached Minnesota Vikings. And Green was the Cardinals coach when the team drafted him.Those two men were tremendous mentors for me, Fitzgerald said. Coach Green gave me both of the jobs Ive ever had in my life. All the ups and downs Ive gone through in my career, hes always been there for me. Same with my agent Eugene Parker. I met him when I was 19 years old. 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It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Cory Ross Jersey .7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $2.2 million. Wieters had asked for $8.75 million and the Orioles had offered $6. Duane Starks Jersey . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. I went up against Fanie de Villiers when he played for Torquay in the Devon league in 1992. Fanie was over here trying to get fit so he could press his claim for a place in the South African team. Hed missed out on the 1992 World Cup through injury. I was a 19-year-old opening batsman at Barton Cricket Club with aspirations of playing professional cricket.Luckily the wicket at Barton was very slow. The first ball Fanie bowled to me was a loosener. First ball of the innings, half-volley, and I punched it down the ground for four. The guy I opened the batting with said to me, For Christs sake, dont wind him up.Later in that innings Fanie tried a short ball. It didnt get up but was on me quick. I clipped it and it went for two past square leg. That was an invitation to him to try a bit more of that because I hadnt played it that well.But on the slow, low wicket, the short balls sat up quite nicely after that and I managed to pull a few away to the boundary.Fanie was an absolute gentleman. Unlike a lot of overseas pros I played against in league cricket, he said very little. If you hit him for four, he didnt stand there and stare or swear at you. Hed just go back to his mark and try something else to get you out.In my experience, with some other overseas bowlers, if you did get on top of them, theyd revert to using their reputations to make a big deal of things. Rather than worry about what you had done, and any affront it might have caused him, Fanie would just focus on what he might have done wrong the previous ball to give you an opportunity to score and look to put that right the next time.dddddddddddd A very professional attitude. He was easily the best seam bowler I faced in the Devon league. What stood out was his accuracy. With most club bowlers, you know if you keep the good ones out, the bad ball is just around the corner. With Fanie, there were few of those.He also had that wholehearted competitiveness. Always came off the long run and always seemed to be bowling at 100%, whereas other overseas bowlers Ive come across would take it easy from time to time.But he never stepped over that line. He respected the opposition, which doesnt always happen when pros come into league cricket.Later in my career, when I played a bit of professional cricket, I came across quicker bowlers than Fanie. He was quick enough, but also had a range of skills, could move the ball, swing and seam it, which was different to what wed seen before.To play against someone like that was a good testing ground for me. To go up against that kind of bowler was fantastic - very exciting, stimulating, and exactly what I needed. ' ' '